Vol 2 Chapter 17

Yoon Seok-ho, the head of Saturn's Korean branch responsible for THE MIST, the undisputed best VT game, had been incredibly busy since yesterday with the flood of communications due to the official start of Episode 3.

[Branch Manager, the next person to go up is...]

"Ah, just a moment."

[Pardon?]

"Don't I need some break time too? How about a 30-minute rest?"

[But...]

"It's just 30 minutes. Not even an hour. So..."

[Oh, um, Branch Manager...!]

Click.

"Phew..."

After a brief argument, Yoon Seok-ho hung up the phone and pressed his temples, slumping into his chair. Though his face was steeped in fatigue, it didn't diminish his handsome features.

"Sorry, but are you busy right now?"

At that moment, Yoon Seok-ho turned his eyes to a person who suddenly appeared behind him. It was such an elaborate VT hologram communication that he would have mistaken it for a real person if it hadn't been semi-transparent.

"It's been a while since you contacted me directly. Can't you see? I'm scheduled for a week of sleepless nights without issue at this rate."

Ignoring Yoon Seok-ho's tired words, the man spoke without hesitation, his hands thrust into his pockets.

"I don't intend to take up much of your time. They say youth is for suffering, even if you have to buy it. I think once you've risen to that position, it's a problem you have to deal with yourself."

Yoon Seok-ho laughed at his nonchalant words.

"Haha. I could say the same to you."

"...Number 3. Why did you launch it now? The head office is wondering if there's a problem with Misly."

At the man's question after a moment of silence, Yoon Seok-ho smiled with a frown, pulling up his lips.

"...Misly?"

As the man wrinkled his nose as if he had misspoken, Yoon Seok-ho sighed.

"You still can't let go of that nickname from those days? It wouldn't be good if others heard you calling THE MIST supercomputer that way. I wonder when you'll realize we can't live like we did back then anymore."

"Don't talk like that. You might want to forget everything from the past because you're doing well now, but I don't."

A deep shadow passed over Yoon Seok-ho's face for a moment and then disappeared. The man's face also darkened briefly, but with their backs turned to each other, they never looked at one another. After a while, Yoon Seok-ho sighed, ran his hand through his hair, and spoke towards the faint hologram.

"...The reason we announced Episode 3 early is because of the H-zero quest. The entire quest has already opened, so we couldn't delay any longer. Even announcing it now was the date we barely agreed upon after THE MIST and the operations team discussed and asked for preparation time. As you know, originally, H-zero was supposed to move straight into the next update the moment HM-08 was fully executed."

"...So that's how it was."

The man answered in a low voice, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. He was very young. Despite the lab coat worn over his knit sweater, with his messy hair and light-colored eyes hidden behind horn-rimmed glasses, one might not doubt if he claimed to be a student. However, Yoon Seok-ho was one of those who knew better than anyone how brilliant a mind was contained within his fragile exterior.

Whenever Yoon Seok-ho saw him, he was reminded of someone who had connected the two of them. Without that person who had willingly reached out to both of them first, neither the man now called the genius of the century nor Yoon Seok-ho himself would have achieved the life they had now.

Unaware of Yoon Seok-ho's increasingly sinking gaze, the man put his glasses back on and spoke again.

"Right. I understand. So, the quest is currently in full execution up to HM-08, correct?"

"Yes. It was already executed about three weeks ago. The first to be executed was HS-01, on the day after the opening. Then came HD-03."

"I see... It really is fast. But the important thing is the progress of HR-02. Who's the user for HR?"

At that question, Yoon Seok-ho's expression changed slightly for a moment. The man tilted his head curiously, looking at Yoon Seok-ho who had regained his relaxed smile.

"HR... is actually a bit complicated."

"Complicated? How so?"

"The HR user is from the experimental group of the Rel project that was executed along with MIST's opening."

"Rel?"

The man frowned for a moment.

"Yes. The ReL project."

"Ah... That was the project related to the capsule we created back then. I didn't know it was progressing so quickly."

The man scratched his head. His expression was complex and subtle.

"How's that project going? Any problems?"

"My, are you worried?"

"I'm worried about MIST, not you."

"Well, it's going well. Not something you need to worry about."

"Alright, I'm sure you'll handle it. But I think it's too dangerous for one person to do those two things simultaneously. That HR user. It might be better to manipulate and change to someone else since we don't know what will happen."

Yoon Seok-ho shook his head at the man's words.

"I don't think that's necessary. From what I know, he's an incredibly strong person. He's been doing amazingly well so far, so I don't want to manipulate anything unnecessarily. Isn't it all his luck? We're always monitoring in case of emergencies, so even if a problem arises, we can take action immediately."

"Well..."

The man looked at Yoon Seok-ho's seemingly relaxed appearance with a complicated expression.

"If you're that confident, I suppose it's fine."

"Oh, look, another bunch of Kalaps coming!"

The party consisting of Yu-wan, Kran, and Kapros was now walking across the Parm Great Plains, moving from the south to the north of the continent after leaving Tolang.

To be honest, calling it a great plain was generous; it was more like a monster field where monsters appeared tediously after just a little walking. With open space in all directions and nowhere to hide, they had to fight and fight until they were sick of it. The monster they encountered frequently was the Kalap, which was now bounding towards them in the distance, kicking up a cloud of dust.